


Where the sun shines bright and the mood is light.

by claveldelaire



Series: Quinn + Carrie [3]
Category: Homeland
Genre: Co-workers, Coffee, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Slow Burn, Tenderness, a lot of coffee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:20:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24383443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/claveldelaire/pseuds/claveldelaire
Summary: Not an AU where Quinn keeps noticing things about Carrie.
Relationships: Carrie Mathison/Peter Quinn
Series: Quinn + Carrie [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1756372
Comments: 15
Kudos: 47





	Where the sun shines bright and the mood is light.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!
> 
> This could be read as a continuation of "Soft hair, soft curves, soft love" but it's not necessary to have read it to understand this one.
> 
> As I've said before, English is not my first language so please forgive any mistake I've made and let a suggestion for me in the comment section if you want.
> 
> This is not beta-read so you're warned.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this story :)

He always thought that he had been pretty obvious about how she makes him feel, but she seems to live in a parallel world most of the time.

But lately, he catches her staring him,  _ a lot _ . Not in a way he would like her to look at him, it’s more like a curious look.

He has always tried to be kind to her despite their work-related fights and that he has more than one reason to stay away from her. Most of the time she takes his little details without any acknowledge about what he's doing but an average 'thank you, Quinn'. Anyway, It's not like he's expecting her to fall in love with him for that.

***

The first time he notices something weird about her (apart from her general behaviour) it's on Monday. He hands her a cup of coffee and she reaches towards it but just before she takes it, she pauses and looks at him. It's not a suspicious look, it's not weird, just a confused one. After a second, she reaches again and takes the cup without a word.

***

Next time he catches her looking at him she’s frowning, two lines between her brows before tapping her pen on the desk.

***

It's during a night shift that he catches Carrie looking at his hands. He eyes his nails, looking for dirt or something like that but there is not a thing.

***

The next day, she's staying late in the office because she has a date with a possible new asset. Quinn's grumpiness has nothing to do with it at all, you know? Before leaving, she leans into him and tells him that his new haircut suits him well. He doesn't want to read between the lines, so he only nods to her. She smiles and then is gone.

***

They share Greek takeaway every Tuesday when they both cover the night shift. He steals her olives and she doesn't seem to care. To be honest, she's never keening to eat, so he could eat her entire plate and she wouldn't complain.

***

Saul is back from Johannesburg after two months and the three of them are having lunch near the station. Saul is talking non-stop trying to updating them. Carrie is eating only the olives in her salad while smiling. Quinn frowns at that.

***

He's been gone for two weeks to a particularly rough mission for Dar Adal in Colombia and now he's back. It ended with eleven civil casualties.

It's Tuesday night again and he's sharing his shift with Carrie. He's hungry but he doesn't want to eat instead, he’s entertaining himself with his pocket knife. He gets back to reality when he hears the door closing and sees Carrie taking off her coat. He hadn't noticed when she left. She puts a takeaway container in front of him. Greek, he notices.

"Your stomach was growling," she says but his head is still far away from there.

This time he doesn't steal his olives so after she's finished eating, she puts them on a small plate and left them beside his laptop. He's too tired and sad to thank her but he appreciates her gesture.

***

He's leaning back in his chair reading a file when she ruffles his hair, her nails softly scratching his scalp. That takes him by surprise and he smiles. He may look like a tough guy but he loves physical contact.

***

He's about to leave the station. He's giving Max some indications and they're in front of the glass panel. He watches the figures reflected on it: Virgil in the corner and there is Carrie, sitting at her desk, staring pointedly at his back, wait, no, not exactly his back. Is she checking his ass?

He can feel his face turning red so he takes a deep breath before turning and leaving the building without saying goodbye.

***

He thinks she doesn't notice the effect she has on him.

One day he's sitting at the side edge of his chair, tying his shoe and when he straightens she's sitting in the other half of the chair. She's never done that. She copies some coordinates from his laptop and looks at him. He tries to stand up but she grabs his arm and asks if everything is okay. He nods, she smiles and leaves as nothing had happened.

***

The morning is hot but Carrie insisted on waiting for their coffees outside the bakery and she's acting weird again. She's staring at him and he starts to feel self-conscious. The sunlight is so fucking strong out there that he needs to shield his eyes with his arm.

He briefly looks at his armpit and there is nothing there. What the fuck is she looking at?

When the coffees are ready he buys her a pastry, she chews it but doesn't say a word all the way back to the office.

***

He gets shot in Gettysburg and she visits him at the hospital more than anyone. It's not a big deal once you realize he doesn't have any personal friends and he's not that close with anyone in the office.

In fact, she's there when he wakes up from surgery, caressing his hand. At first, he thinks he's having a hallucination, then she starts feeling real against his hand.

After that, she visits him twice a day: in the morning quickly sipping coffee from a plastic cup, and in the evening when she's tired and sleepy.

Days go by and the team can't figure what was in the box the mercenaries took from the tailor shop. He's getting eager with the lack of activity. Carrie is there when he decides to discharge himself from the hospital. He gets up from the bed and walks towards the wardrobe, discarding his robe in the way. He knows he's stark naked under it but he pretends to forget she's in the room. She grumbles and he takes the opportunity to tease her asking if she has never seen a dick before.

She doesn't answer and her gaze is far away from the room.

***

They're coming back from Venezuela by plane and he decides to take the lead and to put his head in her shoulder, waiting for her reaction. She stays still for a moment and then she's resting her head over his. He's definitely fond of physical contact.

***

It's Friday night and he knows she's alone in the office covering Virgil's shift since he has a fever. He presents himself in the station with Greek takeaway and she seems relieved to have him there.

Again, he has been trying not to overthink her behaviour but he craves her attention so he throws a pit of olive to her face, and she laughs, actually laughs and he hasn't heard that sound ever and wants to keep it forever in his head.

***

Quinn wakes up startled when he hears someone banging the door. They're in the US Embassy in Islamabad, Saul has been kidnapped and Carrie has been poisoned by a change of her meds. It's her first night out of the hospital and she got a call from Saul who has just escaped. Quinn's wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of boxers when he opens the door. She enters his quarters talking non-stop and follows him to his bedroom where he’s trying to get dressed. He struggles between telling her to leave him alone or showing off his torso in front of her. He decides that’s not appropriate, Saul is in danger and he gets dressed as quickly as possible, trying not to wonder if the whole scene meant something to her.

He's busy talking to Saul on the phone, giving him indications on how to escape, following him from the air in the screens, when suddenly he feels her hands tucking the front of his shirt in his trousers.  _ What the hell, Carrie? _ he thinks. They're surrounded by people but he doesn't want to step away either. He tries to play it cool and not to react in any way.

They couldn't save Saul and they're dejected in the couches outside the operation's room in the Embassy. They haven't slept in nearly two days and when he stands up to retreat to his room he believes for a second he can see a glimpse in her eyes like she's about to say something. He tries not to imagine intentions where there isn't any since she stays on the couch without saying goodbye.

They've just got Saul back and he's interrogating him. There is a lot of shouting and banging in the table. Carrie takes him away from the room and scolds him. They're going back to DC early the next morning. He wants to stay and to screw Haqqani up but she orders him to pack his things and leave. It's a direct order and he wasn't expecting it to turn him on like that.

***

There are small gestures that he starts to notice: she wipes a drop of sweat from his temple when he's working under pressure; she hands him a pen he dropped and didn't bother to reach; she sits in the armrest of his couch when there is an empty one a few feet from him; she touches his arm when they're chatting; she smiles him more and more every day. Even though all of it, he tries not to overthink about it because she's a natural charmer, she works that way: she charms people to get what she wants. The question now is: what does she want from him she doesn't already have?

The day comes when she unexpectedly gives him a present. They're at her house and she surprises him with a bag from the store where he used to buy his clothes when he had time for himself. It's a dark blue shirt, he already has one pretty similar to it but he doesn't have the heart to say it. She at least bought it in the right size, so he decides to be thankful for the present and to kiss her. It's a quick thing in the temple and he can swear he feels she melting under his touch.

***

He visits her at the hospital when she has a breakdown. Nobody sends him there but he goes anyway because he's worried. She's pale and acts weird and he blames the meds. She's staring confused at his eyes but it seems like she's not really looking at him, that she's seeing through him. He leaves the hospital with the sensation that she didn't acknowledge his presence.

***

He offered his house to do a barbecue for Max's birthday, now everybody is gone but her, her sister took her car and she needs to be driven home. She helps him to put the dishes in the drawers, he offers her strawberry ice cream, and then they're watching an old tv show re-run. She yawns and he says she can take his bed, he doesn't need to clarify that he will take the couch before she says yes. It's a nice surprise.

When he wakes up the next morning (covered by a blanket that wasn't there last night, by the way) he realizes there is nothing in the house for breakfast. He peers through his bedroom door fearing she's gone but she's sleeping with her face buried in his pillow so he rushes to buy something. When he's back she's still in the same position. They have breakfast in bed and life seems just wonderful.

***

He's working one early morning and she’s back from being out all night following someone with Max, looking ruined. She sits at the other side of his desk and starts updating him on the matter. When he realizes, she's drinking from his cup of coffee. He smiles and she looks at him confused.

***

He asks for a few days off work, he's exhausted and he needs a vacation. He doesn't go anywhere instead he stays at home and try to sleep the days away. It’s Saturday morning when he wakes up with a soft knock on the door. There she is with a bag of donuts.

"Missed you," is the first thing she says.

When he comes back from brushing his teeth she's already picked a movie and made herself comfortable on the couch. He wishes he had taken a shower last night.

After the movie ends, they go to the store and he cooks lasagna. He thinks he could get accustomed to this kind of routine.

She stays until the evening and when she straightens her back pops, instinctively he reaches and rubs her shoulders. She stirs at that and he goes to get a blanket. When he feels she sneaking closer to him he takes the opportunity and passes his arm over her shoulders.

He's falling asleep with his arm around her when she speaks for the first time in like an hour.

"We could share the bed this time, you know?"

He's taken aback but he isn't going to refuse to such an offer.

***

At work, no one suspects a thing about them, or maybe, everyone is aware of it and they aren't surprised.

They do that kind of cohabitation for the weekend and it works for months though he wakes up every Friday lowkey expecting for it to end. It doesn't.

They're having tea on his couch and he splashes it in his t-shirt. It's hot and he swears.

"Fuck me," he says.

"Ok," she answers.

And so it begins.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If you did it to the end I want to tell you a very big THANK YOU.
> 
> I hope you have liked it and you consider leaving me a comment.
> 
> Another THANK YOU to the person that takes the time to leave me a comment about the mistakes I made.
> 
> You can find me at Tumblr as claveldelaire (let's chat).


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